Alphacool OTC Flat 8800 Water Block

Packaging and Contents

When I received the new Alphacool OTC Flat water block it came in a bubble pack reminiscent of those used by memory manufacturers, but just a little deeper to accomodate the water block. The packaging in its current format offers no protection what-so-ever from over-zealous couriers, and mine when it arrived was badly cracked. As a result I have decided not to include an image of the packaging. The water block itself is kept in a zip-lock plastic bag and features a silica gel sachet to minimise the effects of tarnishing or oxidation.

Chris Banks (International Sales and PR Manager for Alphacool GmbH) has told me that they are currently in the process of renewing all the packaging for their product lines, and when the new packaging is available it should look something like this.

I'm sure that you will all agree that the new packaging should provide significantly more protection.

Included in the packaging is everything that you need to water-cool your GPU, with the exception of barbs. Alphacool doesn't supply barbs with their hardware simply because they like to allow their customers to make a choice. All reputable retailers should provide a choice of barbs with the Alphacool OTC Flat, so bear this in mind. I have included my personal favourites, the EK hi-flow 1/2".

There's a saying that first impressions are usually lasting ones...and the Alphacool OTC Flat is very stylish to say the least.

Alphacool as a company are very commited to producing water-cooling hardware that does the job well. Further, they use thermal-imaging technology to assess the hotspots on a particular piece of kit, and design their cooling solutions around alleviating them. The base appears to have been finished with 'glass balling' to ensure maximum thermal transfer between the graphics card and the water block itself.

At a mere 4mm I still can't believe how thin the Alphacool OTC Flat really is.

Unlike the Alphacool NVXP-G8 the Alphacool OTC Flat doesn't restrict you to having the inlet and outlet in one static position only. Whilst the OTC Flat still isn't as configurable as the EK water blocks, it certainly is a step in the right direction. SLI enthusiasts may have another choice for water-cooling now!

Changing the direction of the barbs is an absolute cinch. Simply undo the 3 Allen Key screws and change the direction of the barb recepticle and the blanking plate, ensuring that the 'O-rings' are reseated properly, and then tighten. Voila...easy peasy.

Installation of the Alphacool OTC Flat was very quick indeed. Faster than the EK FC8800GTS, in fact!

Let's head over the page to see how we're going to test the Alphacool OTC Flat...

Most Recent Comments

Great well written review Peevs. I have been wondering how these will fair and in the very least they are an attractive solution offering a bit of choice. Bit of a shame about the overall performance but looks like I'll be happy with my EK block Quote

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